VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The place where Chris gets his fentanyl is bright and airy, all blond wood and exposed brick. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable about the potency of the pills he can crush, cook and inject.

Soft pop music played, and an attendant spritzed a bit of Covid-cautious spray on his seat before he settled into a booth on a recent afternoon with a couple of red-and-yellow pills, a tourniquet, a tiny candle and a lighter.

“The best thing about this is the guarantee: I can come in here four times a day and get it,” Chris said. He no longer spends all of his waking hours in a frantic scrabble of panhandling and “other stuff” to scrape up the cash to pay a dealer. He won’t get arrested — and he won’t overdose and die using a drug that is not what it is sold as.

Canada: Fentanyl from the government? A Vancouver experiment aims to stop overdoses

Federal and provincial governments agree the death toll from opioid overdoses amounts to a national health crisis.

In British Columbia — where the situation has been declared a public emergency — advocates say a "safe supply" of drugs is needed.

Exactly what it sounds like. In a February 2019 'concept document' provided to Vancouver City Council, the Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs describes "safe supply" as "a legal and regulated supply of drugs with mind/body altering properties that traditionally have been accessible only through the illicit drug market."

The supply would include heroin and other opioids, cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, hallucinogens such as MDMA and LSD, and marijuana — free of charge.

Thousands of Canadians have lost their lives to the opioid crisis in recent years. The dead include people of all ages from every walk of life.

Last July, the City of Vancouver approved a "safe supply statement" to share with other levels of government and to advocate for access to a regulated drug supply.

"We often hear this crisis referred to as an overdose crisis, but really, we are in a drug poisoning crisis," the statement reads.

"One of the primary causes of overdose is the contamination of the illicit drug supply, and we believe that future deaths could be prevented if people could access a regulated safe supply."

What is a 'safe supply' of drugs and how would it work in British Columbia?

: Mary Clare Zak (Director of Social Policy, City of Vancouver), Dr Evan Wood (Director of the BC Centre on Substance Use), Donald MacPherson (Executive Director, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition).

: The Very Rev. Gary Paterson, 41st Moderator of the United Church of Canada

: Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, Executive Director of First United Church.

Why decriminalize? Decriminalizing simple posession of drugs: A public forum

In the waning days of his tenure as B.C.'s provincial health officer, Perry Kendall said the harm reduction policies that form his legacy have saved lives — but have not done enough to curb the devastating numbers of people in B.C. who have died of overdoses from illicit drugs.

Harm reduction is a strategy aimed at reducing the negative consequences of drug use.

B.C. is home to some of the most progressive policies surrounding harm reduction — from a clinic that distributes prescription grade heroin, toopioid vending machines, to supervised injection sites.

But it's also facing one of the worst overdoses crises in the country.

More than 1,400 people died of an illicit drug overdose in the province in 2017, making it "the most tragic year ever," according to the chief coroner.

Donald MacPherson, director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, said that B.C.'s leadership in harm reduction is a direct result of the dire situation.

"The envelope is being pushed because of the desperate situation and no one really knows what to do, because we've never seeing anything like this before," he said.

"But if we had another public policy that had failed as dramatically as our drug policy over the past few years, we'd say this is a catastrophic failure."

Innovations in harm reduction can't curb 'catastrophic' overdose crisis

The Liberal government used its first foray into the global anti-narcotics arena this week to signal a clear shift from the war on drugs philosophy, promising more safe-injection sites, promoting “harm reduction” and touting its plan to legalize marijuana.

The speech by Hilary Geller, an assistant deputy minister of health, caused a stir at the generally staid Commission on Narcotic Drugs conference in Vienna, observers said.

The audience of government and non-governmental organization officials from around the world “erupted in applause” mid-way through the address and gave a prolonged ovation at the end, said Jason Nickerson, an Ottawa-based researcher who is attending the meeting.

The talk not only contrasted with the Harper government’s international stance on drugs, but stood out from the cautious pronouncements most other nations made, said the Bruyère Research Institute scientist, who favours more liberal policies. “There are some countries here that are coming out and saying important, progressive things,” he said. “But it’s certainly not as explicit as what Canada is saying.”

A Conservative opposition critic had a different reaction, sounding the alarm about Geller’s prediction of more government-sanctioned injection sites – where opioid users can use illicit intravenous drugs under a nurse’s supervision.

While the Supreme Court of Canada ruled such sites legal, the Conservatives passed legislation requiring extensive public consultations and other measures before they could be set up, said Rob Nicholson, the party’s justice critic. “Drugs that are used at these injection sites, mostly heroin, are dangerous and addictive and they kill Canadians,” said the former justice minister. “I disagree with the idea they are safe. There’s nothing safe about taking heroin.”

Nicholson also stressed that the Conservatives invested hundreds of millions of dollars in drug-abuse treatment and prevention.

Still, the Harper government was generally tough on the issue, implementing mandatory-minimum jail sentences for some trafficking offences and beefing up police narcotics enforcement.

On the world stage, it opposed having international conventions embrace harm reduction, programs that focus on preventing the side effects of illegal drug use — like HIV infection — rather than prosecution.

That put the Conservative government in league with some of the world’s most authoritarian states, said Richard Elliott, head of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network.

Under Harper, Canada also failed to condemn the death penalty for drug offences, enforced regularly by nations like Iran and Indonesia, he said.

Geller stressed this week her government opposes capital punishment “in all cases.”

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Canadian official causes stir with ‘progressive’ speech at UN narcotics conference

Webinar on the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs

on 29th January from 1:00 to 2:00 pm (EST) - or 6:00 to 7:00 pm (GMT)

The webinar gave updates on the UNGASS itself, and the latest developments taking place around the world ahead of this important meeting. There was also a focus on the positions and engagement of countries from North America, and the global and regional opportunities for engagement. The webinar about 50 minutes, and was hosted by 

 (Director, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition).

The recording of the webcast is available here.

We are also taking comments and questions on YouTube and on Twitter through the hashtag #IDPCWebinar, and will discuss these during the webinar.

Please, feel free to disseminate information about the webinar among your colleagues and networks.

IDPC Webinar on the UNGASS 2016 & North America

The Canadian Drug Policy Coalition is sponsoring a session at this conference entitled, “

From The Monolith To The Kaleidoscope: New Approaches To Regulation And Control Of Psychoactive Substances Around The World” 

with Donald MacPherson, CDPC, Alison Holcomb, ACLU, Seattle, WA, and Dana Larsen, Sensible BC.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Canadian Criminal Justice Association Conference

I fully expected the 56th Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) to be as depressing as others that I have attended in recent years. With so many organizations in the world working to change drug policies and refocus attention on the harms that arise from global drug policies on individuals, families, communities and countries, attending the CND is often a reality check on the slow, sometimes microscopic pace of change in this international forum on drug policies.

As the meeting commenced it became clear that there was something different in the air this year. For one the usual buzz around the presence of the US Drug Czar was strangely missing from the proceedings – his travel budget a victim of sequestration cuts, Gil Kerlikowski stayed home this year. Not a bad one to miss given the torturous task his staff might have had writing speaking notes to explain the recent situation in Colorado and Washington where voters passed resolutions to bring into existence a legal regulatory regime for adult non-medical use of cannabis.

Evo Morales, President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, in his opening address to the Commission thanked the delegates for allowing Bolivia to re-join the conventions with a reservation that addressed Bolivia’s constitution, which upholds the use of the coca leaf as a part of Bolivia’s cultural heritage. President Morales went on to ask whether there was tension in the room and he wondered if it was related to the knowledge that “the fight against drugs has failed globally”. He went on to chastise the US for trying to force Bolivia to curb its coca farming with threats and by tying eradication of coca to the building of schools in the 1980s. Morales’ words were strong in that he pointedly noted that efforts to control drug trafficking are intertwined with other geopolitical goals of “mastery” and “dominance”. Such bold statements are rare in the public forum at CND.

UNODC Director, Yury Fedotov’s opening remarks were an interesting mix of the old and the new. While asserting that progress is being made on the global drug problem Fedotov acknowledged that international drug control policy cannot remain isolated from needed improvements in HIV services nor can it ignore discrimination and the lack of evidence-based services for people who use drugs. During the civil society session with the UNODC, Fedotov was animated and seemed to welcome the openness of the debate at this session where a number of questions focusing on drug policy reform surfaced.

Another fresh breath of air in this year’s event was New Zealand’s Minister of Revenue, Peter Dunne who addressed the Commission and explained the new and innovative legislation that will be coming before the New Zealand parliament in the fall that will address the many new psychoactive substances that are appearing almost daily that are unscheduled within the treaties. Under the proposed legislation, the Psychoactive Substances Bill, all of these new substances will be banned unless a manufacturer can prove that they pose no more than a low risk of harm. Rather than ban all new substances immediately the New Zealand government plan to put the onus on the industry to ensure the safety of their products and if they pass muster they will be placed in a regulatory schedule that will allow retail sales of the products under certain conditions. When asked how this scheme was received by other delegations Minister Dunn said there was a great deal of interest in the proposed legislation and countries are watching closely to see the outcomes.

The Organization of American States review of drug policy in the western hemisphere that was mandated by the last Summit of the Americas in April 2012 was also a topic of interest as expectations begin to mount now that the review is coming to conclusion in the next couple of months.

This year saw a record number of NGOs attending the CND and this brought a fresh energy to the proceedings. The International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) had a strong presence and provided briefings on the CND, key resolutions coming forward, and the many side events that were on the schedule. IDPC organized several excellent side events in partnership with country delegations or other NGOs that covered critical issues related to the International Conventions and the current state of dialogue and debate on global drug policies. The side events were very well attended drawing a wide cross section of people from country delegations as well as the NGO community.

All in all this years CND had some interesting moments if you read the tea leaves and listened to the buzz in the corridors. My take is that there is an implicit if not explicit recognition that the drug policy landscape is indeed changing, new approaches are being considered, and countries are beginning to demand a wider debate on policy. For the CND to remain relevant these debates should be welcomed as an important opportunity at future meetings of the Commission.

To read this article in Bulgarian, please click here.

Reading between the lines at the 56th Commission on Narcotic Drugs

Donald MacPherson is one of Canada’s leading figures in drug policy and advocates drug policies based on principles of public health, scientific evidence, human rights and social inclusion. He is currently the Director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition a national coalition of organizations and individuals working to improve Canada’s drug policies. He is involved in drug policy work at local, national and international levels. Formerly he was North America’s first Drug Policy Coordinator at the City of Vancouver where he worked for 22 years. He is the author of Vancouver’s groundbreaking Four Pillars Drug Strategy, which called for new approaches to drug problems based on public health principles and the appropriate regulation of all psychoactive substances. MacPherson is currently Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver Canada.

Donald MacPherson es una de las figuras más destacadas de Canadá en materia de política de drogas y aboga por políticas de drogas basadas en principios de salud pública, pruebas científicas, derechos humanos e inclusión social. Actualmente es director de la Coalición Canadiense de Políticas de Drogas, una coalición nacional de organizaciones y personas que trabajan para mejorar las políticas de drogas de Canadá. Participa en la política de drogas a nivel local, nacional e internacional. Anteriormente fue el primer coordinador de políticas de drogas de Norteamérica en la ciudad de Vancouver, donde trabajó durante 22 años. Es el autor de la innovadora Estrategia de drogas de cuatro pilares de Vancouver, que aboga por nuevos enfoques de los problemas de las drogas basados en los principios de la salud pública y la regulación adecuada de todas las sustancias psicoactivas. En la actualidad, MacPherson es profesor adjunto de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad Simon Fraser de Vancouver (Canadá).

Donald MacPherson est l'une des figures de proue de la politique en matière de drogues au Canada. Il préconise des politiques des drogues fondées sur les principes de la santé publique, des preuves scientifiques, des droits humains et de l'inclusion sociale. Il est actuellement directeur de la Coalition canadienne sur les politiques en matière de drogues, une coalition nationale d'organisations et de personnes qui s'efforcent d'améliorer les politiques canadiennes en matière de drogues. Il participe à des travaux sur la politique en matière de drogues aux niveaux local, national et international. Auparavant, il était le premier coordinateur de la politique des drogues en Amérique du Nord à la ville de Vancouver, où il a travaillé pendant 22 ans. Il est l'auteur de la révolutionnaire stratégie de quatre piliers de Vancouver, qui préconisait de nouvelles approches des problèmes de drogue fondées sur les principes de santé publique et la réglementation appropriée de toutes les substances psychoactives. M. MacPherson est actuellement professeur adjoint à la faculté des sciences de la santé de l'université Simon Fraser à Vancouver, au Canada.

Donald MacPherson

IDPC Board member - Vice Chair

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